Torch, Summer 2002

have just recently retired from a career in public education. I spent more than 30 years teaching middle school science, literature, health, and math. I contemplated teaching at our local community college where I served as an adjunct professor in biology for more than a decade. For some reason, though, God changed my mind, and after more than 50 years in the Zion, Illinois, area, my wife and I moved to Cedarville to teach in the Cedarville University Education Department. I teach middle school concept, methods of teaching science, environmental science, and an additional science course. I also work in the field, monitoring Cedarville students in both public and Christian schools as they learn and practice teaching skills. The reason I made this move to Cedarville University is because of the burden I have about the need for more Christian teachers. I am just one of the many “baby boomers” who either have retired or are planning on retiring in the next few years. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that American school districts will need to hire more than 2.2 million new teachers to replace the 50 percent of present teachers who will be retiring in the next 10 years. What are the reasons for this mass exodus? No single reason appears to dominate. Obviously, many are reaching retirement age, and there are many incentives to retire at age 55 or sooner, as I chose to do. The demographic shifts in population taking place towards the South and the West affect the career choices of many. There is also an almost universal push for smaller classes in all educational settings, which, while commendable in some aspects, further exacerbates the teacher shortage problem. Urban and rural districts have the greatest problem attracting teachers, but all areas of the country are experiencing a great need for special education, bilingual, technology, math, and science teachers. The educational journal Phi Delta Kappan reports that one- quarter of newly hired teachers had no teaching license or were under- qualified to teach their subject. This same source notes that 22 percent of new teachers are gone from the classroom within three years. In urban districts, in that same time period, 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession. In Georgia, because of the teacher shortage this year, retired teachers are permitted to both collect their pensions and receive a full-time teacher’s salary. Georgia colleges graduate 3,500 education majors per year, but the state needs 12,000 new teachers this year. Summer 2002 / TORCH 5 I |